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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25624087">bruising the sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriflamme/pseuds/oriflamme'>oriflamme</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Daring Escapades And Other Highlights Of Being Friends With Jazz, Emotional Invalidation, Emotional Manipulation, Kidnapping, Mentions of Past Dub-con Plug-and-Play, Miscommunication, Multi, Perfectly Polite Space Bridge Confrontations And Other Little Windblade Things, Threats To Raze The Planet On Your Behalf And Other Perks Of Banging Starscream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:47:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,830</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25624087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriflamme/pseuds/oriflamme</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Wheeljack doesn't catch onto the fact that he's being kidnapped for about a day or so.</p><p>It just doesn't really come up!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Starscream/Wheeljack/Windblade (Transformers)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>bruising the sun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/13793508">Your Face Becomes The Sun</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/spockandawe/pseuds/spockandawe">spockandawe</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Most of what's going on here will probably not make sense without having first read <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/13793508">Your Face Becomes The Sun.</a> A blast from the past...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wheeljack doesn't catch onto the fact that he's being kidnapped for about a day or so.</p><p>It just doesn't really come up!</p><p>-</p><p>Okay, so - his last trip to Earth started off strong, but didn't end so hot. It was…kind of uncomfortable, actually. So much so that Wheeljack tries not to think about it. Starscream watches him, intent in a brittle, oddly soft way, and is still quote-unquote 'losing' Optimus's diplomatic messages on a regular basis. Windblade pulls him over in Metroplex's module chamber and quietly tries to get him to talk about it, as piercing as Starscream is careful, and nothing about it is normal.</p><p>But Wheeljack's had a few months to let the memories settle into long-term storage. He was stressed; he blew it out of proportion. If he's firm about it, he almost believes that. Starscream and Windblade talking through it in careful terms with him helped. Helped Wheeljack and, hilariously, helped give those two some kind of common cause. They might still argue vigorously over the care and keeping of Metroplex and how Starscream tries to run things, but now they're in complete accord on this one thing in particular: giving Optimus Prime the cold shoulder. Windblade's a lot politer about it, her cityspeaker paint worn like a battlemask whenever she needs to give Optimus a chilly reception. She can stonewall like nobody's business when she's in her element. Starscream is just flagrantly rude. The two of them keep conspiring to bounce Wheeljack out of the room whenever Optimus is due for a video call, and Wheeljack ruefully writes it off as bonding time for them.</p><p>He lets it happen. He's grateful. The memories of the discomfort fade, and he relaxes in the lull Starscream and Windblade provide.</p><p>Of course, he knows things are tense with Optimus - can't <em>completely </em>ignore politics when he's got Starscream on one side and Windblade on the other. But Wheeljack chalks it up to the raw attitude Windblade and Starscream are giving Optimus. He means to ask them to ease off, soon, 'cause he's not worth torpedoing their diplomatic relationship with the Cybertronian Earth base - but he's slow to work around to it. His first half-sparked attempts just make Starscream sigh and roll his optics extravagantly and inform him that this is how Starscream would treat Optimus normally, anyway.</p><p>Which. Y'know. Fair.</p><p>Wheeljack misses the other side of it, though. He doesn't realize.</p><p>"Rough day?" Wheeljack asks, glancing up from his current project.</p><p>Windblade's EM field precedes her; she's grimly determined all over, and little bit vexed, but other than that Wheeljack can't get a better read on her mood. Camien wavelengths have a different vibe that he's still working on an algorithm to parse better. Her moodiness is more subtle than Starscream's.</p><p>Either way. She trudges over to the couch, bleary-eyed, and sits with her chin in her palm. "One of those weeks, really," she admits, rubbing a thumb against the curve of her orbital ridge. Probably - Wheeljack would bet - missing Chromia.</p><p>He tugs her into a brisk hug, and never actually gets told <em>why </em>it was rough.</p><p>-</p><p>So when Jetfire invites him back to Earth again - apparently Cosmos asked about having missed him on the last trip, and Sideswipe wanted to know why Wheeljack cut his last trip a day short, and Jetfire has a question concerning one of his own projects Wheeljack might be able to assist on if he doesn't mind -</p><p>Wheeljack doesn’t think much about it. The reminder of <em>why </em>he cut and run last time stirs up some of those weird, crawling, unpleasant sensations he'd kinda buried in his subprocessors. But Wheeljack quashes them again with his own brand of determination. All any of his friends on Earth's side of the space bridge know is that Wheeljack made some half-aft excuses to bolt after spending a quiet night in with Optimus. Nothing off, nothing out of the ordinary, and then Wheeljack had apparently freaked out and dropped them without a word, after he'd promised to hang around another day to catch up.</p><p>They're his friends. Some of the oldest ones he still has, not counting some of the mechs who took off on Rodimus's wild ride. And he missed them, an ache that was only just getting mellowed out before everything on that trip went…sideways.</p><p>Besides. This won't be a repeat of last time. Mostly because Wheeljack is confident he can avoid the circumstances that led up to the incident that threw him off so spectacularly. It's pretty easy to just not hook up with someone. Optimus can be as weirdly blunt and disappointed as he likes (not <em>invasive</em>, he <em>wasn't</em> - Optimus's disappointment was paralyzing Wheeljack as he struggled to process it, crushing and confusing, but no matter how trapped he felt Optimus didn't <em>actually</em> access anything that Wheeljack hadn't left free for him to see). Wheeljack isn't made out of tin foil; he can take a little difference of opinion between them.</p><p>He just won't exchange hardlines with Optimus. No matter what else, no matter what uncomfortable doubts lodged themselves in Wheeljack's head like chunks of sharp, buried ice, Wheeljack trusts <em>that </em>won't be a problem.</p><p>So he clears out a new block in his schedule, and braces for impact as he shares it with Starscream and Windblade.</p><p>-</p><p>Neither of them are happy about it.</p><p>Okay, okay. That's an understatement. Starscream is livid. It's not often y'see someone go literally incandescent with rage, and Wheeljack winces as he does what he can to talk Starscream down before he can blow out an optic or his vocalizer with the force of his upset.</p><p>Wheeljack thought the past few months of normalcy had drained some of Starscream's oddly visceral tension surrounding the incident. Eased him back down to normal levels of paranoia concerning the Autobot leader. But apparently a lot of it has just been lying in wait, and Wheeljack's announcement rips it all back up again. Starscream's agitated and upset, and the fact that he can't conceal that from Wheeljack just makes it worse somehow. It's the weirdest fight Wheeljack can remember them having, because Starscream mostly just seems <em>worried </em>about him. Frustrated that Wheeljack doesn't consider Optimus a threat.</p><p>So it's Windblade who walks Wheeljack to Metroplex's space bridge this time. Once he stopped going incandescent, Starscream had fallen into a stiff sulk, his wings taut with silent agitation, and barely softened when Wheeljack tentatively kissed his cheek. Windblade is just - quiet.</p><p>"Promise me you'll come back whole," Windblade says, suddenly, as the space bridge spins up. It's a process that requires Wheeljack's partial input, but Metroplex can handle most of the calculations on his own these days. Windblade's optics catch the burning light of Metroplex's spark, the extra luminescent edge eerie as Wheeljack meets her serious stare.</p><p>Hoo boy. Last time, Wheeljack had reassured Starscream without a second's hesitation. Now…</p><p>"If I need a rescue, I know who to call," Wheeljack promises, winking his optic in a smile.</p><p>This close to the full radiance of Metroplex's bridge, he can't read her field at all. But her grim stare warms, and she presses a kiss to his cheek before stepping clear of the bridge.</p><p>"Make sure he flies tonight? I'll be back in a day," Wheeljack adds.</p><p>Windblade snorts. "Yes, I'll push him off the roof so he can pretend it's an assassination attempt. It'll be invigorating."</p><p>A message hits Wheeljack's inbox just as he steps up to the threshold. The ambient interference of Titan's bridge would've otherwise caused potential routing problems or delays, but it slips through just in time.</p><p>
  <span class="kankri">SS: Be careful. </span><br/>
<span class="kankri">SS: Come home soon. </span>
</p><p>-</p><p>Wheeljack puts aside the weird mood as he arrives on Earth. Metrotitan's side of the bridge.</p><p>(Windblade isn't a fan of referring to Metrotitan as Autobot City. To be honest? It feels increasingly off to Wheeljack too. Metroplex is increasingly his own entity, distinct from Iacon, and he's not sure anyone ever asked how Metrotitan felt about it.)</p><p>But there's still this strain in Wheeljack's chest as he raises his hand and waves at Jetfire, manning the bridge terminal for his arrival. Jetfire smiles back, and - is Wheeljack imagining the brief hesitation, before Jetfire's smile really reaches his eyes?</p><p>Hard to tell. Wheeljack's clearly overthinking all this. It's not <em>regret </em>or <em>apprehension</em> - he's just a little unsettled, being back in the same room where he hightailed it back to Cybertron all those months ago. He'd muted comms after a hasty mass-text to everyone here, and - hell. The colonist on terminal duty had tried to say something, hadn't they? Optimus had wanted to talk before Wheeljack took off, but Wheeljack had been so frazzled and upset that he'd just stepped around the colonist and booted up the bridge himself. He'd filled his mind with dizzy white noise so he could pretend he didn't hear them or notice the pending message from Optimus, blinking in the corner of his own HUD. At the time, it had seemed like the only way he could cope with…whatever that all was.</p><p>So. His exit had been super abrupt from the outside. No wonder, when he'd felt so erratic and jittery. Then he'd also dumped the first wave of comms to reach him from everyone here straight to archival storage, trapped in that apprehensive mood, and went for very vague explanations when he finally made his apologies.</p><p>It's hard to think straight about it, even now. He definitely could've done a better job processing it, like Windblade and Starscream tried to encourage him to do. But he's here now. Wheeljack shelves the nausea trying to creep up on him as Jetfire comes over and rests a hand on his shoulder as they head out of the bridge chamber. "How have you <em>been</em>, Wheeljack?" Jetfire asks, concerned. "It feels like we've barely talked again."</p><p>"Oh, you know how it goes. Starscream keeps me busy," Wheeljack says, only half joking. He <em>likes </em>being busy, being useful, and definitely prefers the city and infrastructure work more than he did being part of an unending war. Even with Starscream and Windblade tag-teaming to give him a break from the endless meetings, though, he can't deny that having his first real vacation go wrong on him didn't have exhausting aftereffects.</p><p>For some reason, the joking, lighthearted tone doesn't hit the right note. Jetfire's eyes tense at the corners. He looks away for a moment and lengthens his stride, so Wheeljack has to jog a little to keep up as Jetfire leads him through Metrotitan's familiar inner corridors. "Well - hopefully this visit doesn't get cut short, and we can help with that," Jetfire manages at last, his tone bracing. "Come on. The labs are in this sector. Not <em>too </em>far of a walk."</p><p>"Probably less of a drive," Wheeljack jokes again, with a flicker of blue in his audial fins as he quirks his optics in another smile.</p><p>This time it lands better. Jetfire chuckles, and the odd tension in his field dissipates. "I wish."</p><p>-</p><p>Wheeljack <em>notices </em>that Optimus absents himself.</p><p>Obviously. Kind of hard to miss it. Last time Wheeljack had been damn pleased to see him. It had been nice, relaxing, steadying. Familiar.</p><p>Until it hadn't been. Until Wheeljack wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, or if it was <em>him</em>, or -</p><p>He tamps that down again. Once he notices, he's a little relieved. And there's the guilt, too, trickling in. Relieved to not see Optimus? It sucks. So Wheeljack distracts himself, absorbed in Jetfire's updated rundown of everything going on research-wise that Wheeljack's allowed to know.</p><p>Cosmos pops in three hours later, practically charging through the door, eager to talk about anything and everything. He somehow manages to rope Jetfire's D.0.C. drone into the discussion of the latest, harmless Earth and Cybertron gossip. Jetfire seems resigned to it, while D.0.C. continues to assist him and Wheeljack in running some technical maintenance. Just to keep their hands busy.</p><p>"Do you know how long a shift runs when you're the only one covering half a solar system?" Cosmos asks, mournfully. He kicks a heel, his visor distant and wistful. "At least it's nicer now, out by Jupiter, with Soundw-"</p><p>Cosmos coughs awkwardly, a clearly fake blip of static in his vocalizer that D.0.C. responds to with a bleep. Wheeljack arches a brow, amused, but doesn't ask. If Cosmos wants to keep things on the downlow, Wheeljack can empathize. Endlessly.</p><p>(Soundwave, though? Damn. If they're trying to hit Decepticon high command bingo, Wheeljack shudders to think who would dare try for Shockwave.)</p><p>Jetfire's distracted, so Cosmos's little slip goes undetected. Wheeljack wonders what's going on; he's caught Jetfire subvocalizing a few times over the course of the morning. It's a habit some bots pick up when they're having a conversation via internal comms. If Jetfire is talking to someone else while Cosmos gets the chatter out of his system, it's fine.</p><p>It's good. It's - Wheeljack thinks, guilt stricken - a hell of a lot less anxiety-inducing than last time around. By this point on his previous trip, he'd already bumped into Arcee and had a fraught discussion with Jazz, right before Optimus slid into his plans for the evening.</p><p>Around the midafternoon mark, Wheeljack reluctantly checks his messages to see if anyone else hit him up while he and Jetfire were in the zone. Nothing from Cybertron - he cancelled most of his meeting notifications, but nothing at all is probably due to space bridge-related network delays. Nothing from Arcee, either - again, not a surprise. Jazz pinged him without words to check in, but there's no indicator for a time or place to meet up. Knowing Jazz, he'll swing by when Wheeljack's free by smooth coincidence.</p><p>Not going to lie, Wheeljack wouldn't mind spending a little more time with Jazz this time around. Jazz seemed stressed, before, but the ensuing disaster with Optimus had driven it out of Wheeljack's head. Hooking up with Autobot spec ops would probably make Starscream actually, legitimately cry, but it doesn't have to be a hook up. Wheeljack's leery about letting anyone other than Starscream or Windblade near his ports, regardless. Better to just relax with someone else who needs a breather.</p><p>So Wheeljack sends back a ping of acknowledgement and invitation, and stretches his arms over his head in a silent signal to Jetfire that he needs a change of pace. Old lab habits.</p><p>D.0.C. beeps and zooms toward the door. Wheeljack looks up and blinks at the sight of Sideswipe leaning against the doorframe. Sunstreaker's with him, in his assistive chair, the pet Insecticon chittering at D.0.C. as the drone swivels around them. Wheeljack doesn't think they could've been hanging out long, or Cosmos at least would've noticed their arrival. "Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Wheeljack says, tucking away his scanner once and for all. He rises from his stool and ambles over to them.</p><p>Sunstreaker inclines his head in a nod, unreadable. Sideswipe exchanges a look with Jetfire. "Yeah," Sideswipe answers, distractedly. His expression is a little troubled, or maybe just distracted. Like he's mid-comm call, too. "You sure about this? Have you brought it up yet?"</p><p>Wheeljack blinks again. Apparently he really is out of some subvocal loop.</p><p>Jetfire grimaces. "Not yet. I was trying to think how to bring it up without imposing."</p><p>Wheeljack can feel the awkwardness again. Which sucks, but which he suspects is a consequence of his own weirdness last time around. Nothing to do but work through it. They're all friends here. "Is it a present?" he asks, wryly. "It's not even my Earth birthday."</p><p>That sparks a wan grin from Jetfire, and a flicker of amusement from Sideswipe. "More like a curse," Sideswipe gripes, stepping easily out of the doorway so they can get by. Bob skitters out from underfoot, claws clicking as he hops up into Sunstreaker's lap. "C'mon. He's just down the hall in medical."</p><p>It's stupid, the way Wheeljack's spark drops. A precipitous, guilty, sick lurch. "'He' who?" he asks, a little too lightly, trying to swallow the acidic nausea that reflexively rises in his intake.</p><p>It wasn't <em>that bad</em>. He's overreacting over nothing for real, now. The apprehension is killing him.</p><p>This time, though, absolutely everyone grimaces. Even D.0.C., which is impressive. Jetfire takes the lead as they head down the hall and opens the door to a specialized medical bay.</p><p>Which is how Wheeljack comes face to face with Skywarp.</p><p>-</p><p>He'd wondered how to approach the topic of Thundercracker with Starscream, last time. Jazz had been the one to pass on word of Thundercracker's recent adventures in screenplay writing, but Skywarp hadn't come up in the conversation.</p><p>In the end, Wheeljack's problems kinda sidelined it. By the time he and Starscream had settled back into a comfortable, normal routine again, Starscream merely nodded when Wheeljack mentioned Thundercracker in passing. "His writing is appalling," is all Starscream had said, and then spent the rest of the evening preening smugly while Wheeljack tried to suss out how Starscream even heard about it in the first place.</p><p>Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp hadn't parted on the best terms. Mostly half-dead terms, honestly. And as with most things that hurt Starscream, it's a touchy subject.</p><p>Apparently Skywarp is a recent addition in Metrotitan. Jetfire walks Wheeljack through a general overview. Injured during Megatron's riot on Cybertron, Skywarp's control of his outlier ability deteriorated over time, until he could barely hold himself together and stay solid. Galvatron's sordid solution had been to wire Skywarp directly into a ship and abuse his teleportation ability at the cost of massive spark-strain and physical pain, stringing Skywarp along with promises he'd be repaired and stabilized.</p><p>Basically, a bunch of lies. Galvatron was a nasty character. By the time Sideswipe and Arcee had dragged Skywarp into custody, Skywarp was only tangible because he was three-quarters of the way dead. "Humans wanted to get their hands on him," Sideswipe comments as Wheeljack scrolls through his scanner results with scientific fascination and medical horror. "Which - no offense to Optimus, but no way. The last thing humans need is to mess around with an outlier spark."</p><p>"'S a good way to get blown up, yeah," Wheeljack agrees, absently. Outlier sparks, kinda like point one percenters, tend to go nova like that.</p><p>This probably qualifies as work. But Wheeljack likes helping, and this is…this is Starscream-adjacent. He can't just <em>not</em>, even if Starscream would tell him to leave it alone. "I don't want to ask you to work," Jetfire says, along the same line of thought. He seems resigned, but Wheeljack's engrossed in the first real data he's seen on Skywarp's readings since the war. "But if you could look it over in the future, it would help a lot. We've had to keep him in stasis a lot more than I'm comfortable with without a medic of Ratchet's caliber on hand, but it's the only way to keep him phased solid so we can treat him."</p><p>And Wheeljack falls for it.</p><p>Hook, line, sinker.</p><p>-</p><p>No sign of Optimus, all day long.</p><p>-</p><p>After introducing him to a very groggy, cranky Skywarp, Jetfire shows Wheeljack to the spare habsuite Wheeljack assumes he could've stayed the night in last time he visited. It's a neat, empty space, obviously unoccupied. Metrotitan's internal architecture might be rearranged to accommodate the nature of Earth-based missions, but a Titan is first and foremost a <em>city</em>. The tower blocks are compressed for defense and air space reasons, obviously, but there's plenty of room.</p><p>Wheeljack sorts through the local comms waiting for him one last time, clearing pings from Kup and Sky Lynx. He won't be here long enough to catch up with those two after they're back from patrol, which is a shame. Jazz hasn't hit him up yet, so it'll be a quiet night in.</p><p>Before Wheeljack shuts down for recharge, Sky Lynx does send one final 'see you soon!' Like maybe he lost track of the date. But then Wheeljack dozes off, his subprocessor still humming quietly along as he considers how to maybe give Starscream a head's up about Skywarp.</p><p>-</p><p>He's marked down that he needs to head back the next afternoon. Sure, a longer vacation would be nice - but even aside from how less than restful his last visit was, Wheeljack <em>does </em>still have work back home.</p><p>Home.</p><p>He kinda understands Cosmos's wistful expression a little better, now.</p><p>No comms still, either from Starscream or Windblade. Wheeljack onlines and rolls his shoulders, rubbing the back of his neck, and shoots a wordless query to whoever's running the Metrotitan comms terminal. Normally it'd be someone familiar, like Bluestreak or Blaster, but they both took off on the <em>Lost Light</em>. So it's one of the colonists on duty again. There's a faint hesitation as she checks, then stiffly confirms: no pending messages for him.</p><p>Huh. Starscream might still be sulking, but it's just as likely he and Windblade are giving Wheeljack as much free time as possible. If something urgent came up, Wheeljack would bridge home right away, without question. All three of them probably work too hard, but whoops. That's just how it goes, when you're kinda-sorta helping to run an entire city.</p><p>So as Wheeljack heads to the energon dispensary, he still thinks everything is fine. He sends a quick, encrypted comm of his own to both of them to let them know everything's a-okay and he'll be back on schedule. Technically, it doesn't need to be encrypted with a message that innocuous, but it's a good habit that Starscream has drilled into both his and Windblade's heads.</p><p>Another unusual moment of hesitation, before the bot on duty acknowledges it at the terminal.</p><p>Wheeljack doesn't think anything of it.</p><p>-</p><p>It hits around 2:00 PM MST.</p><p>The morning is a quiet, low-key thing. Sideswipe wants to go for a <em>real </em>drive this time, so Wheeljack agreeably cruises through the valley with him for a few hours before the desert temperatures start to spike for the day. They trudge back covered in dirt and go through the washracks. Wheeljack's tires are sore. "You need to get out and drive more," Sideswipe says, clapping Wheeljack on the back when he mentions it.</p><p>Which gives Wheeljack a chance to sigh and explain how Iacon's immediate surroundings are still a ravaged, dangerous wasteland. It would be damn nice to be able to go out some day, him driving, Starscream or Windblade or both overhead, and just enjoy it - but Wheeljack keeps that last part quiet. On the list of topics that unfortunately need to be kept confidential, the fact that he's hooking up with both Windblade and Starscream ranks pretty high up there for both personal and professional reasons. Optimus -</p><p>Wheeljack's thoughts judder and skate over choppy territory, but then he makes himself finish the thought. Optimus had only caught glimpses, with how conservatively Wheeljack partitioned sensitive intel and meetings during their hook up. But even that had…</p><p>Wheeljack still doesn't have a word for what went so wrong. His <em>affection </em>for Starscream had bled through, and Optimus - pushed. Kept testing the edges of every partition, nudging and poking and prodding at the boundaries Wheeljack set, each mental request for Wheeljack to give him <em>more</em> accompanied by a grave, chilling disappointment as Optimus considered Wheeljack's boundaries and decided they were…something that could be put aside. That he was allowed to put aside. Wheeljack couldn't ignore the disappointment as it washed through their merged minds; it was <em>everywhere, </em>tinting everything, even as Wheeljack struggled to offer Optimus something else to focus on. Eventually Wheeljack had just frozen up, and stuck to his preset partitions and firewalls without understanding <em>why </em>Optimus thought it was okay to keep - jarringly - scraping along the edges of what Wheeljack wanted, skimming right past Windblade, prying for more context about Starscream.</p><p>Wheeljack wound up feeling ashamed of drawing those lines in the first place. Twisted up over it. Even knowing, objectively that it<em> was </em>important, and some things<em> were </em>confidential or proprietary or just plain not Optimus's business. Knowing that normally Optimus would respect that, and it wasn't something Wheeljack should <em>ever </em>be ashamed of. Optimus accepted every no with quiet disappointment.</p><p>Then Optimus had gone back over it all one more time, everything Wheeljack had granted access to, examining and carding through Wheeljack's feelings and emotional metadata associated with Starscream. And when <em>that</em> made Wheeljack's awful, formless discomfort peak, all Optimus had sent was a strange, heavy reassurance, and then offered all those feelings up to Wheeljack for explanation.</p><p>Wheeljack - trapped, paralyzed, <em>numb</em> - hadn't had an answer.</p><p>Optimus's disappointment choked him. He didn't even try to conceal the fact that Wheeljack had somehow let him down. Optimus read between the lines and saw that Wheeljack cared about Starscream. When held up against Optimus's expectations, there's no doubt Wheeljack came up - wanting.</p><p>It's Starscream. It's understandable that Optimus would have doubts and concerns. But the way he went about it - the reproach, the casual expectation.</p><p>Starscream calls it 'violating.' So there is a word for it. But Wheeljack flinches and can't quite apply it to Optimus. It's <em>Optimus</em>. That whole incident was so far removed from the leader and friend that Wheeljack knew and respected and had hooked up with hundreds of times before, when all of Wheeljack's secrets had been <em>Autobot </em>secrets. It just doesn't compute. It had to have been a fluke.</p><p>Wheeljack came out of it feeling so rattled. Ashamed. They'd gone into recharge still hardlined, and Wheeljack had jerked awake multiple times through the night, paranoid that he'd wake up to Optimus carding through his archives again when that…should never have been in question. It had taken days to get his rhythm back after leaving early.</p><p>But months after, he knows he was right to stick to his boundaries. Wheeljack has a right to privacy, for himself and his partners and his work, and that's not a bad thing. It can't be something he's ashamed of or is pressured into compromising on like that. Whatever else, Optimus chose the wrong way of dealing with a refusal. One or both of them should've ended the merge before it jarred Wheeljack that badly, and Wheeljack <em>definitely </em>should've disengaged before wrecking his processor with a sleepless night.</p><p>Anyway.</p><p>Around mid-afternoon, Wheeljack starts making his final rounds. He hasn't seen Jazz or Arcee yet (Jazz pinged again but didn't show, and Arcee is an enigma) but the trip was nice. No sign of Optimus, either - but maybe that's for the best. It'll be even nicer to get home a little early, maybe have a nice, unrestrained nap to round out this vacation time. He's promised to take a look at Skywarp's specs and provide some suggestions for Jetfire, so that's a good reason to be more consistent about keeping in contact across the space bridge. All in all? A much better visit than last time.</p><p>"Wheeljack, wait. Hang on," Jetfire says, when Wheeljack finishes stowing his borrowed tools. Something's off in Jetfire's expression; he seems almost reluctant again. Wheeljack waits, and finally Jetfire says, "You know you're welcome to stay here, right? You don't have to go back if you don't want to."</p><p>It's so out of left field. Wheeljack tilts his head to the side, honestly flummoxed. He chuckles to cover the mounting confusion, and heads to the door. "Appreciate the offer! But you know what they say - a mech's work is never done. Starscream would pitch a fit if I quit now."</p><p>It's another joke. Jetfire's face falls another imperceptible fraction. But he doesn't say anything else, just accompanies Wheeljack as he meanders back through Metrotitan back to the space bridge chamber. He sent notice to the terminal promptly that morning so he wouldn't disrupt any other trips on the bridge schedule.</p><p>Yet when the two of them reach the space bridge chamber, it's quiet. Metrotitan's spark is a quiescent, deactivated blue. If it were primed and connected to Metroplex's bridge, it would be crackling with energy. No sign of the colonist manning the bridge or the comms terminal, either.</p><p>Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are here, though.</p><p>Braced for impact.</p><p>Wheeljack expected some kind of talk with Optimus, if he was being realistic. He'd <em>hoped </em>it would go well, and they could talk it out, clear the air, set everything right again.</p><p>He didn't expect two ex-frontliners between him and the only bridge home.</p><p>Again. Something just doesn't compute.</p><p>Wheeljack injects that lightheartedness back into his vocalizer. His voice falters a little. "What's up? Is there a problem with the bridge? Or did you just come to say goodbye in person?"</p><p>He can start up the bridge on his own, easy. So maybe the colonist on duty went AWOL. This doesn't have to get weird.</p><p>It does.</p><p>Sideswipe is grim. Like Jetfire, he frowns more than he makes eye contact. "Wheeljack, listen." Then, visibly settling on what to say next - "We're worried about you, okay?"</p><p>Then, the stinger. "Optimus is worried about you," Sunstreaker says, quietly.</p><p>Just like that, this is a conversation Wheeljack can't fathom having. It knocks him right off balance, as effectively as a punch to the gut. He steels himself. "There's nothing to worry about," he says with a casual shrug. Shaking his head, he jerks a thumb toward the bridge terminal. "Seriously? I'm going to get this going. Could basically do it in my sleep, at this point -"</p><p>"We know, okay," Sideswipe interrupts, his expression uneasy. "We know about you and whatever the hell Starscream's making you do. Optimus explained that something's up."</p><p>Jetfire reaches out to touch Wheeljack's shoulder, his EM field supportive.</p><p>Wheeljack twitches away. It's just - none of this makes any sense<em>. Optimus, what on Earth did you tell them?</em></p><p>Wheeljack feels cold again, and he can only imagine what that flinch and his stricken stare must look like, from their perspective.</p><p>Give him an hour in a lab and an undisclosed amount of explosives, and getting past Sideswipe and Sunstreaker to reach the bridge is a cinch. But the fact that he even catches himself thinking like that - this is all messed up.</p><p>He hasn't received any messages from Cybertron since he got there.</p><p>Wheeljack tries one more time. "You've misunderstood. Nothing's wrong between me and Starscream. Optimus got the wrong impression - it happens. Please."</p><p>His voice cracks a little on the last word, and Wheeljack sees it solidify the resolve in Sideswipe's grim look.</p><p>But he can't fight them. They're his friends, and this is a hideous misunderstanding.</p><p>So Wheeljack shakes his head again in disbelief, and brushes past Jetfire to leave. Clear his head.</p><p>-</p><p>They never intended to let him go back to Cybertron.</p><p><em>That </em>much becomes pretty clear, as Wheeljack numbly lets Sideswipe walk beside him, back to the habsuite. The awkward silence drives off Jetfire, who goes to 'give him space.'</p><p>And to go report back to Optimus. It's unspoken, and Jetfire still seems as reluctant as he did since Wheeljack first arrived - so not everyone's fully on board with this misplaced intervention. But Wheeljack can still feel a conversation with Optimus looming on the horizon.</p><p>Just the thought of talking through this with Optimus sounds exhausting. Wheeljack wants to rewind the clock two days and agree with Starscream that yeah, this idea was <em>stupid.</em> He could've gone on vacation to Caminus or something.</p><p>Instead, as he gingerly hunkers down on the couch provided in his habsuite, Wheeljack pulls out his scanner and starts tweaking the settings.</p><p>Wheeljack doesn't <em>really </em>need to use the scanner to confirm they blocked communications via the space bridge relay. That's pretty easy to deduce, in hindsight. The <em>real </em>question is, can he hack a way into it to send a message to Windblade <em>before </em>Starscream goes nuclear?</p><p>Sideswipe leans against the wall and tries to justify all this, and Wheeljack listens with one audial fin cocked, letting it roll over him. He feels cold. Trapped.</p><p>Again.</p><p>"You just - ran. We know you're spooked, okay? Optimus said Starscream's got some kind of hold on you, like - whatever it is, we can help. He can't get you here. Not without going through us."</p><p>The worst part is how open and intense Sideswipe is, now. He means it, every word. And - like Wheeljack, a few months back - he has no reason to think that Optimus would have led him off course. He trusts Optimus's judgment wouldn't be based on some kind of wild misconception.</p><p>Wheeljack very nearly snaps the antenna off his scanner. Which is how he realizes he's not just numb. He's <em>mad. </em></p><p>It takes a lot to get him slagged off, but this? Whatever this mess is? That's done it. Optimus has so much explaining to do.</p><p>"You're right. I want to talk to Optimus," Wheeljack recites by rote. The nice thing about wearing a mask and not a mouth - as long as his hands are busy and he doesn't look up, he can almost fake being cool with all this.</p><p>Sideswipe looks relieved. "I'll get him," he promises, and leaves Wheeljack to it.</p><p>Doesn't even lock the door. Wheeljack's not a prisoner here. Yet Wheeljack would bet his best wrench that if he walked out now, one of his friends or the colonists devoted to working under the Prime here on Earth will be ready to gently intercept him. For his own good.</p><p>All of them under the impression that, what? Starscream's pressuring him? Blackmailing him? It's so far of a leap from Optimus noticing Wheeljack's warmth and affection in carefully cropped memories of Starscream, and his reluctance to let Optimus dig any deeper into something that was <em>private</em>, and Optimus being disappointed in him - to <em>this.</em></p><p>But there's one person, Wheeljack thinks, who would…listen to Optimus's take with a grain of salt. Maybe the only person who might be able to help him pull a heist, depending on how convoluted this gets.</p><p>They shut down the comms relay to Cybertron. They didn't shut down the comms network on Earth.</p><p>
  <span class="nepeta">WJ: Hey Jazz?</span><br/>
<span class="nepeta">WJ: Could use a friend right about now. </span>
</p><p>-</p><p>Optimus rolls up before Jazz can send a response.</p><p><em>If </em>Jazz received it. <em>If </em>Wheeljack's personal comms aren't being screened. The Starscream voice that lives rent-free in Wheeljack's head these days can get pretty paranoid.</p><p>But when Wheeljack sends out test pings to Sky Lynx and Cosmos as cover, both of them reply to his generic comms in moments, cheerfully unaware of the disruption in Wheeljack's schedule. So. He can only assume that Jazz reads him. He doesn't want to risk sending anything more obvious or encrypted.</p><p>By the time Optimus arrives Wheeljack has had time to pry open a ceiling panel by the wall, tap one of Metrotitan's nervecircuit lines (roughly as wide around as Wheeljack's arms can reach), and closed it back up. Windblade probably wouldn't approve without her supervision, but Metrotitan is a backup plan, not a priority. Wheeljack isn't sure how awake and aware Metrotitan is compared to Metroplex because he <em>respects proprietary intel</em>. But in a pinch he can do a lot with a tapped line like that.</p><p>Wheeljack still likes to think he can talk this one out, though. He's decided that yeah, he's annoyed. But Optimus is a friend. Not his commander. Not anymore. They're going to communicate, and they're going to like it. Good intentions can maybe salvage this, but…</p><p>But Optimus walks in, and it <em>sucks</em> that Wheeljack has to temper another reflexive wave of nausea at the gravity in Optimus's field. His voice is a familiar rumble that used to be a comfort. Optimus Prime is a leader: a solid foundation. When he arrived on a battlefield there was a chance that everything would be alright, and that - sometimes that was everything.</p><p>Now his every step feels too heavy.</p><p>Wheeljack should budge over, make room for him on the couch. He doesn't. This is already setting off minor twinges in his processor. Choppy, internal flinches.</p><p>Windblade was right, and so was Starscream. He should've talked to someone about this, more. Ouch.</p><p>"Old friend," Optimus says, gravely. His high, sharp helm fins are canted back, but Wheeljack can't read anything off him but stern worry and relief.</p><p>"Optimus," Wheeljack says. 'Cause maybe calling him 'Prime' like normal would be an error right now. Give the wrong impression.</p><p>Even before Optimus got into Wheeljack's head, he'd been fishing for intel on Starscream. Asking about the consolidation of power, political infighting, tensions between neutrals and colonists and factions. Stuff that would help…give the Autobots an advantage. A better idea of how to work with - work <em>around </em>- Starscream as the inconvenient, dangerous duly elected leader of Cybertron.</p><p>Because it's Starscream. And Optimus had assumed that Wheeljack wouldn't feel any conflict of interest in spilling the bolts at all.</p><p>But this isn't a war anymore. Optimus isn't Wheeljack's commander anymore.</p><p>Optimus shows no signs of hesitation; he joins Wheeljack by the couch with that concerned look, his eyes tight over his maskplate. "I apologize for the abruptness, and the wait. I hope dealing with Starscream hasn't grown more difficult in the meantime. We tried to move before he could retaliate or otherwise take it out on you."</p><p>The wait?</p><p>"There's nothing difficult about working with Starscream," Wheeljack says, struggling to keep his voice level. Without room to sit on the couch or another chair, Optimus looms, hovering with an attentiveness that weighs down on Wheeljack. "So why exactly do Sideswipe and Jetfire suddenly think I need rescuing? Because I'm gonna be completely honest with you, Optimus - <em>this </em>isn't right."</p><p>Optimus pauses, taken aback by the rebuttal. It's almost like a switch flips: Wheeljack can feel Optimus's concern intensify in a way that crosses the line into a searching, incisive stare. Scanning Wheeljack for signs of who knows what.</p><p>Having that probing gaze on him sets off another crawling sensation in Wheeljack's tanks. He feels uncomfortable.</p><p>It must start to leak into his EM field. Optimus picks up on it, and his stare firms again. Like Jetfire, he reaches down and grips Wheeljack's shoulder bracingly.</p><p>This time Wheeljack controls the twitch. He shakes his head, looking down and away to break eye contact.</p><p>"You seemed distressed, on your last visit," Optimus says, gently. "Like there was too much you felt you had to conceal. You were withdrawn, tense, throttling the main connection. I hoped I would be able to reassure you then, but you left too quickly, and I realized I pushed too hard." His broad hand squeezes Wheeljack's shoulder, and haha, that's reassuring, right? "Once I realized how tight the level of control Starscream must be asserting over you was, I began to ask as diplomatically as I could for your transfer here so you would no longer be pressured into it. But Starscream was vocally opposed, and unfortunately Windblade did not respond to requests for her assistance. Again, I can only hope you haven't suffered for the consequences of my inaction until now. You don't have to worry about placating him anymore."</p><p>Wow.</p><p><em>Wow</em>.</p><p>"You could tell I was upset, last time," Wheeljack says.</p><p>"And I understand you are upset now." Optimus is so solemn, so emphatic, and just a little bit sad.</p><p>It only avoids being pity because Optimus is careful about that. Too many victims he had to comfort over the course of the war. People who couldn't bear it, or who were held captive too long -</p><p>Wheeljack mulls that over for a second.</p><p>Then he straights his shoulders, dislodging Prime's hand with the shift. "I was <em>upset</em>," he says, his voice very clear, "because of what <em>you </em>were doing. I didn't partition memories because Starscream ordered me to or threatened me or whatever it is you're thinking. I partitioned them because they were <em>private</em>." He cycles a vent; steadies himself again before Optimus can interrupt. "To me, every time you pinged for access beyond what I wanted you to see, it felt like you acted like they were a suggestion. Like you were okay with setting aside what I was feeling when I was uncomfortable, because you wanted to know more about Starscream and Cybertron's problems than I was giving you. In a personal merge, on personal time." One more vent. "I like spending time with you, and I wanted to. But something went off midway through, and we should have stopped. Me and Starscream, though? We're good. There's no reason to keep me away from Cybertron."</p><p>Wheeljack looks up.</p><p>Optimus's optics darken half a shade. He hasn't replaced his hand on Wheeljack's shoulder, and the assessing scan is back.</p><p>It's probably just Wheeljack's imagination that it feels more remote, this time. Distant. He overreacted last time, and now they're all overreacting in turn. He isn't a fan of how it feels like Optimus just reassigned Wheeljack mentally from potential victim to potential puzzle piece. Like Optimus expected Wheeljack to be grateful, and the news that Wheeljack might be uncomfortable with <em>Optimus </em>never once factored into this situation.</p><p>Hell, all else aside, Wheeljack would be uncomfortable being held against his will! As a general rule!</p><p>"I had not thought your loyalties would be something that changed so abruptly," Optimus says at last, swapping tactics so fast Wheeljack can barely parse it again. The disappointment rolls off Optimus in a cloud that fills the room with that suffocating weight.</p><p>Wheeljack shakes his head once more. "This isn't about loyalties," he states. For the record. "This is about personal boundaries. I drew them. I'm sorry they weren't where you were used to, but I would do the same for memories of you. Simple as that. I'm not okay with what happened then, and I'm not okay with being held here, now."</p><p>And Optimus - withdraws. His frame settles back, stiff and formal, as his optics finish scanning Wheeljack up and down. "I am sorry that you feel that way. But I'm sure you understand how high the stakes are, when Starscream controls Cybertron," Optimus says, his voice as neutral as a stone. "If I was overzealous and made you uncomfortable in the merge, I apologize."</p><p>Good enough. That's all Wheeljack lets himself think - good enough. No part of this is worth getting into a pitched argument with Optimus about. He just wants to be home, two hours ago. "Yeah, I get it," Wheeljack says, forcing his voice up again. "But this isn't the war anymore. And between me and -" whoops, not dragging Windblade into this "- Starscream and I are good. Better than good. I'm sorry if you don't approve."</p><p>The disappointment hasn't stopped radiating from Optimus after all. Which sucks, but in a way Wheeljack can bear if he can just get clear of it soon. Unlike some of these poor damn colonists, it's not going to break him if Optimus doesn't approve.</p><p>Wheeljack sighs. "I need to head back now. Thank you for looking out for me. I really do appreciate it."</p><p>The silence stretches between them. But Wheeljack genuinely feels his spark lift a little at having been able to say his piece. It's an awkward silence, but most of those warning jolts in his processor have subsided.</p><p>"I ask only that you think it over here, one more night," Optimus says, and Wheeljack's spark drops out from under him. "You are sorely missed, Wheeljack," he adds, reproachfully, and he honestly, truly sounds like he thinks Wheeljack has let him down again -</p><p>Wheeljack's mind stutters. If he had a mouth, it would be gaping. All he can do is stare, his hands slack in his lap. "I'm good, Optimus," he repeats, even as Optimus turns and strides back to the door. "<em>We're </em>good. I just need to get back home -"</p><p>"Starscream has been quite vocal in demanding your return, yes," Optimus says, and ohhh no. "The threats against Earth alone…he is volatile, Wheeljack."</p><p>"Yeah, uh, because I'm here when I should be back there? Being held here against my will? Because I'm clearly not receiving any comms from them?!" Wheeljack rises from the couch, incredulous. Instinct says to book it before Starscream really hits his stride; his processor says all systems go, because Starscream is<em> Starscream.</em> "I think I'll cut him some slack this once if he's freaking out."</p><p>Optimus rests a palm against the side of the door, and looks back at Wheeljack with a look of infinite sadness and stern disappointment. "Stay here, and reconsider," he repeats. "We only want what is best for you, my friend."</p><p>That crawling sensation is back in full force, a cold, prickling acid curling under the plates of Wheeljack's armor. "You're really not going to let me near that bridge, huh," he says, wonderingly.</p><p>"Rest. We can talk more in the morning."</p><p>And then Optimus is gone.</p><p>-</p><p>So that went well.</p><p>-</p><p>Wheeljack can't recharge. Doesn't even try. He thinks if he stops working and rests his optics, even for a second, he'll be right back in Optimus's quarters again. Jerking awake, painfully confused, unable to complete a defragmentation cycle, half-convinced he might just wake up to Optimus smoothly ignoring his partitions to access the files without asking.</p><p>So he starts sending test pulses through Metrotitan's local circuit branch, hollow-eyed and sick to his stomach and ignoring the cube of energon Jetfire left for him -</p><p>- until three knocks tap from within the ceiling vent.</p><p>Wheeljack stands on the couch and unscrews it, to be polite. "Jazz, I have never been happier to see you in my life," he informs Jazz, with feeling, as the mech drops out of the ceiling.</p><p>Jazz lands in a crouch and stretches, just a little bendier than the average Cybertronian. His smile is always a little crooked, his visor glossy and enigmatic, and Wheeljack could honestly kiss him right now. "My mech," Jazz says in greeting, stretching the joints of his wrists without a single crack or creak. "Talk to me. I've done the rounds, and Optimus is out there with half the people turf-side convinced you're in some kinda Starscream trouble. He spent half an hour with Jetfire, going over possible options in case you've been hacked."</p><p>Wheeljack wants to feel insulted - hacked, now? Really? But mostly he's back to feeling numb. He massages his temple, exasperated. "I stayed the night with Optimus last time, and it didn't go well. Apparently he's spent the past few months convincing himself Starscream is the root of all my weird hang-ups."</p><p>Jazz nods, bouncing one heel thoughtfully as he watches Wheeljack. "Well, from his perspective, you're concealing critical intelligence about a dangerous Decepticon who's been lording it over Cybertron and out-maneuvering him in keeping Earth off the Council of Worlds for the past half a year, and the explanation that makes the most sense is that Starscream's threatening or manipulating or otherwise abusing you."</p><p>"And from yours?" Wheeljack shoots back. It's not - it's not meant to come out an accusation, but he's exhausted. He groans. "Sorry."</p><p>Jazz studies him for a second, so lightly it might just be a blink behind his visor. Then his grin ticks up a little more at the corner. "Cosmos is so gooey over Soundwave that it wraps right back around to adorable. Not something I thought I would ever say, but it's a brave new world we're living in." He shrugs, and Wheeljack's audial fins burn bright magenta as he realizes he's being teased. "Also, Optimus skipped right over the Windblade connection. Which was pretty obvious once I got caught up. Feels like Optimus has been missing a lot of things, lately. Prowl alone -"</p><p>Jazz checks himself. But Wheeljack remembers. It hadn't sat well with Jazz, that something had been so wrong with Prowl for months and months, and somehow <em>none </em>of them, his friends, had caught onto the fact that Prowl's mind had been hijacked and then left to recover on his own. It ended in a dumpster fire, inevitably, and Prowl's been in the wind ever since Optimus threatened to kill him.</p><p>Jazz isn't comfortable with Optimus, either. Wheeljack hadn't quite understood.</p><p>So here they both are.</p><p>"Let's just say that how Optimus approaches people lately has been - not great," Jazz finishes, dry as ice. "The fact that he came out with all this and didn't actually consult anyone on whether it was a good plan before <em>committing</em>? Assuming, and assuming some more when someone contradicts him? This is a mess." Another quirk of Jazz's jaw. "Do <em>you </em>think Starscream's manipulating you?" he asks, frankly.</p><p>"No," Wheeljack says. They're so far past that point. <em>Maybe you have to pick <strong>somebody</strong></em>. "What's between him and me and Windblade, it's good."</p><p>"He ever hurt you?" Jazz asks, perfectly neutral, like he's going down a quick checklist.</p><p>"No." Wheeljack thinks it over. "I mean. There was a war on. Not since then."</p><p>"Fair."</p><p>"But also, he's still <em>Starscream</em>, and he's going to do Starscream-y things if this drags out too much longer," Wheeljack finishes.</p><p>He wiggles his fingers ominously. For emphasis.</p><p>Jazz snorts. "No kidding. I don't think the fact that he's been spamming the comms relay with threats to invade Earth and punt Metrotitan into the sun and screeching so loud it blew a colonist's audials out is helping Optimus think rationally. But at least you know he likes you."</p><p>"It's very romantic," Wheeljack agrees, with a perfectly straight face. Damn, how long has it been since he and Jazz sat down for a card game?</p><p>"He also threatened to blow up the moon."</p><p>Old news. "Nah, he threatens to do that to Luna-2 all the time, Earth's not special."</p><p>Jazz makes an unspeakable noise. "Just one more thing. What went down between you and Optimus that night?" Before Wheeljack can react, Jazz holds up a hand. "I know what Optimus took away from it, what he's been hinting at to everyone. But Optimus seems to have read into a lot of things and jumped to a <em>lot </em>of conclusions. Meanwhile, you couldn't get away from here fast enough." His smile lingers still, but his EM field is perfectly serious. "If I'd realized you needed an out, I would have called dibs or something first."</p><p>So Wheeljack tells him.</p><p>Telling Jazz hits different, compared to letting Starscream delicately coax details out of him, or talking to Windblade in vague, careful terms. Jazz worked intelligence and sabotage, and he's got a great listening face. He's also probably interrogated more Decepticons than Wheeljack will ever know, and Wheeljack trusts him implicitly in a way that he somehow can't trust Optimus anymore.</p><p>Jazz basically knows everyone's business, anyway. No need to worry about secrets with the mech in charge of secrets.</p><p>By the time Wheeljack finishes going through it, in halting fits and bursts, Jazz is flexing a hand slowly.</p><p>"I get that Optimus is worried, and this is a terrible place to leave things at. But honestly? I just want to go home and defuse things from there," Wheeljack admits. He can't keep the exhaustion out of his field, and isn't trying. The relief of draining everything and laying it out where Jazz can see it runs too deep. "Why can my vacations never run smooth?"</p><p>It's not a joke anymore.</p><p>Jazz flexes his hand one last time, his visor a blank. Then he resets it with a sharp nod. "0600. I'll come get you; don't let anyone relocate you before I get here."</p><p>Wheeljack kinda wishes it was right now. But Jazz didn't even hesitate; he's sure about something. "Thank you."</p><p>Jazz glances at him. Somewhere along the way, his smile faded. "Need a hug?"</p><p>"Absolutely," Wheeljack says.</p><p>"Then I got you, mech." Jazz steps in and pulls Wheeljack in with one arm, solid and steady, his visor a hot band against Wheeljack's collar. "First, I gotta see a mech about an elephant. Then we're getting you home," he says, with complete confidence.</p><p>Then he hops up onto the couch and is gone, up into the vents and out of sight.</p><p>"…Elephant?" Wheeljack asks the empty room.</p><p>-</p><p>After that, Wheeljack makes himself get one last snatch of sleep before dawn. It helps that he's stressed his systems enough with all this unnecessary tension and distress that he crashes the second he hits the berth. Jazz improvises on the go, and Wheeljack doesn’t want to be a hot mess if Jazz needs him to do the science thing.</p><p>He onlines around 0500 Earth time, after just enough of a recharge cycle that he wakes up amped. He's pacing when Jazz drops out of the ceiling an hour later, ready to <em>go</em>. It's been two full days now; his empty inbox is horrifying.</p><p>Before he even hits the floor, Jazz has a finger pressed to his mouth for silence. Wheeljack stops pacing. Jazz slips to the door of his habsuite - still not locked, despite everything - and goes perfectly still with his hand pressed against the security screen, bouncing silently to his own internal beat. He probably has music blasting internally, but none of it escapes his stealth mods.</p><p>After a two second delay, the door slides open. "All clear," the black-and-pink mech on the other side says, and yes, this time Wheeljack recognizes Arcee.</p><p>Oh. Jazz <em>really </em>pulled out the stops for this one. Arcee waits for only a moment as Jazz and Wheeljack slip out of the habsuite, her optics scanning the hall behind her. Then she nods to Wheeljack. "Good to see you again," she says, and then immediately strolls off in the opposite direction of the space bridge.</p><p>Jazz pings Wheeljack with a rough map and a code to <em>go</em>, though. No time to think about Arcee now. Jazz hits the ground on all four wheels, and Wheeljack races to catch up, the two of them careening down the hall. Jazz runs quieter than Wheeljack, but apparently they're just going for speed right now.</p><p>
  <span class="nepeta">WJ: Cycling up the space bridge will take time.</span><br/>
<span class="black">JZ: no worries. it's already good to go.</span><br/>
<span class="black">JZ: called in a favor with soundwave, so he had a reason to ask to bridge in from jupiter. all you need to do is swap over to metroplex's signal and you're home free.</span><br/>
<span class="nepeta">WJ: Really? What did you give him?</span><br/>
<span class="black">JZ: told him about the fact that there are more elephants in southeast asia and the indian subcontinent.</span><br/>
<span class="nepeta">WJ: Wow.</span><br/>
<span class="black">JZ: i know. been saving that one for a rainy day. but you're worth it.</span><br/>
<span class="black">JZ: optimus should still be in a -</span>
</p><p>It almost works.</p><p>Except when they speed around the last corner and peel through the entrance to the space bridge chamber, Jazz already mid-transformation sequence as he smoothly slides to a stop, Optimus and Sideswipe are right there.</p><p>Not waiting, thankfully. In fact, Wheeljack thinks the two of them and the short Camien at their side probably just walked in, by sheer coincidence. Sideswipe's jaw drops in shock as Wheeljack skids to a longer stop than Jazz's; Optimus stiffens, his brow furrowing.</p><p>
  <span class="black">JZ: whoops. plan b.</span><br/>
<span class="nepeta">WJ: What's plan b?!</span>
</p><p>Wheeljack doesn't get to hear plan B.</p><p>Before Sideswipe can do more than exclaim, "Jazz, what the slag -", and Optimus can take a heavy step to intercept them, the space bridge bursts into burning, coruscating light.</p><p>No one is at the control terminal. Wheeljack didn't even have time to tap his connection to Metrotitan's local cluster. It happens all on its own, the space bridge connecting to some unknown destination, the light of Metrotitan's spark painting the room blue. "Someone's coming through!" the Camien mech calls out, shielding her golden eyes with a hand.</p><p>If Starscream had stepped through, flanked by Badgeless and Primus only knows what else, this probably would've ended badly. Someone definitely would've gotten shot. Like, without question.</p><p>Instead, Windblade steps through. She's - Wheeljack can't even believe it - alone, gloriously backlit by the brilliant blue of the active space bridge. Her hands are clenched in fists by her sides.</p><p>Her gaze sweeps the room, taking them all in. When her optics land on Wheeljack, he can see her formal, controlled expression twitch under the paint.</p><p>Then Windblade snaps a finger and points at Optimus, cutting him off before the Prime can emit more than a word with a flair for drama that exposure to Starscream has absolutely made worse. "I have come to escort Wheeljack home. We are leaving. Now," she says, ominously, a cityspeaker in her element. Her optics flash when Sideswipe squawks in protest. "Wheeljack."</p><p>That's his cue. "Jazz, you coming?" Wheeljack asks. There's something wild singing in his head; he can barely bear to take his eyes off Windblade, but after a scene like this?</p><p>Frag it. Jazz deserves to come home, too. They might as well be all in.</p><p>Jazz takes five nanoklicks to think it over - or maybe he just freezes up, caught off guard. Like he'd forgotten he was allowed to consider it. Then the ice cracks, and Jazz laughs. "Why the hell not?" he says.</p><p>Windblade stares Optimus down, unflinching, as Wheeljack and then Jazz make it to the bridge. Then she breaks eye contact with a toss of her head, and joins them at the threshold, just in time to catch Wheeljack's hand.</p><p>"Sorry, Optimus! Gotta get back to work!" Wheeljack calls, belatedly, and then they're home free.</p><p>-</p><p>Starscream is waiting on the Metroplex side of the space bridge with a bunch of Badgeless.</p><p>Called it.</p><p>"Get out," Starscream hisses, dismissing the troop the second they're through, his optics locked onto Wheeljack with a vengeance. The Badgeless scatter, while Windblade lets her tight grip on Wheeljack's hand fall away so she can very decisively shut down the bridge terminal.</p><p>Once the room's clear, apart from them and Jazz, Starscream starts to swell. Like a balloon.</p><p>Wheeljack walks forward and catches him in a hug. He's not really thinking when he does it; he just knows they both really, really need it right about now.</p><p>"You -" Starscream snarls, muffled, his claws clinging to the ridges of Wheeljack's back with desperation. Then - "<em>You!</em>" he screeches right in Wheeljack's audial, his red optics on fire as he points an accusing finger at Jazz under Wheeljack's arm.</p><p>(Seriously. Windblade's been spending <em>way</em> too much time around him.)</p><p>Jazz holds up both hands disarmingly. "I can't see, suddenly," he drawls, pivoting on a heel to stare at one of Metroplex's patched up walls.</p><p>It's not enough - Wheeljack's right in the middle of Starscream's EM field at the moment, and Starscream tends to sublimate <em>terror </em>into <em>murder </em>when he's worried out of his mind about someone. Just – little Starscream-reteaching-himself-to-care things.</p><p>But it's going to be. One way or another, they're gonna be alright.</p><p>"Definitely just visiting Caminus next time," Wheeljack decides. Then he buries his face against Starscream's neck, Windblade's hands finding his and squeezing as she presses in against his back.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wheeljack doesn't realize that Windblade has always been Like This:</p><p> </p><p>  </p></blockquote></div></div>
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